Friday, April 30, 2010

UK: The latest update of Ovum’s Smartphone Capability Analyzer reveals some interesting developments in the smartphone market. In this quarter the rise of Android continues; Nokia announces a new high-end device, but delays it until 3Q10; widgets become more popular; and Intel is preparing to re-enter the smartphone market with its Moorestown hardware platform. HTC is now the manufacturer with the most individual models (20); Nokia is second with 17 and Samsung is third with 11.

The Android army marches onwardAndroid handsets are proliferating: from four handsets in 3Q09, to 13 in 4Q09, and now 21 in 1Q10 from eight manufacturers. Some of this growth in support seems to be at the expense of Windows Mobile (which has shrunk from 40 handsets in 1Q09 to 27 handsets in the current report) and Symbian (26 handsets in 1Q09; 19 in 1Q10) as the likes of Samsung, LG, and Motorola shift their focus.

The majority of current Android handsets are based on Qualcomm MSM7-series ARM11 chipsets, but newer handsets are a blend of Snapdragon and TI OMAP3 platforms – a trend that will continue for much of 2010. HTC, which produces the widest range of Android handsets, is migrating to Snapdragon for its higher-end devices (such as the Desire) while sticking with MSM7-series chipsets for mid-range devices such as the Legend. The main consequence of this is the capability gap between devices with hardware graphics acceleration and those without – potentially a problem as Adobe releases Flash 10 in the next few months.

Nokia’s Symbian troubles continue, but the N8 is the new hopeLast quarter Ovum commented on the processing power gap opening up between Nokia and its rivals at the high end, and Nokia still does not have a Symbian handset running on a next-generation chipset.

Nokia has this week announced its first Symbian^3 handset, the N8, due for release in 3Q10. Nokia desperately needs a high-end consumer device; the N8 focuses on camera and HD video performance, and is based on a 680MHz ARM11 CPU core with hardware graphics acceleration. This allows Nokia to achieve a lower price point than competitors (€370) while including headline-grabbing camera and video capabilities. The big question for Symbian^3 is whether it can deliver a high-end user experience on ARM11 hardware.

The Maemo-based N900 is Nokia’s only Cortex A8 device in the market, and despite its obvious capability it remains a niche handset that even Nokia does not expect to be a big seller.

In 1Q09 there were 26 Symbian handsets; in 1Q10 there are 19. The number of new Symbian handsets is slowly falling as Nokia rationalizes its portfolio and other vendors (Motorola, LG, and Samsung) have abandoned the platform. This may be a good thing for Nokia and Symbian: focusing their efforts may free up resources for improving the platform and delivering timely updates – an issue that is vital for Nokia’s credibility in the smartphone market.

Widgets are in, but JIL has some work to doMany more handsets are supporting widget frameworks than this time last year – up from 12 percent to 68 percent.

This quarter we have added Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) widget support as a specific category of widgets. JIL is an operator-led group comprising China Mobile, Softbank, Vodafone, and Verizon Wireless, which aims to provide a platform for Internet services on mobile.

The first handsets supporting JIL-compliant widgets were the Samsung-manufactured Vodafone 360 H1 and M1, followed by China Mobile’s version of the Dell Mini 3i Android phone. RIM, Sharp, HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, and ZTE have also committed to supporting JIL widgets, but so far have not launched JIL-compliant smartphones. The initiative will need a serious push if it hopes to gain any traction over and above the widget/application strategies that individual manufacturers and platform owners are already deploying.

Keep an eye on Intel’s MoorestownMoorestown is Intel’s forthcoming mobile system-on-a-chip platform, incorporating an Atom CPU core, optimized for power efficiency. Intel’s intent for Moorestown is in smartphones, tablets, and other devices that require strong battery life and multimedia performance while remaining compact. Moorestown will be a showcase for the MeeGo mobile Linux platform (a union of Nokia’s Maemo and Intel’s Moblin, with versions for x86 and ARM architectures).

Intel has also announced that it has a version of Android running on Moorestown, which should make ARM ecosystem players pay attention. However, Moorestown handsets are not expected to arrive until the third quarter of 2010 at the earliest, and of the major handset manufacturers only LG has committed so far.

UK: Hewlett-Packard has acquired Palm for $1.2bn. The acquisition provides HP with the assets to make a significant push into the consumer smartphone market. Palm will benefit from HP’s manufacturing expertise, distribution channels and its financial investment.

However, to reverse Palm’s fortunes HP needs to transform Palm into a global consumer brand, build compelling content partnerships and rebuild Palm’s once vibrant third-party developer community. In short, HP must develop a managed device platform that can rival offerings from Google, Apple and Microsoft.

Building developer traction is the key to HP and Palm’s device successThe most important part of this acquisition for HP is ownership of Palm’s device software platform, WebOS, and the engineers used to develop it. HP has the opportunity to leverage the OS into a range of connected devices beyond the smartphone. WebOS is a good technology building block for HP to start building out its own managed device platform, although there is still a number of essential pieces missing which HP will need to address.

Critically HP needs to breath some life into the WebOS developer community. This will be a significant challenge as Ovum’s recent survey of mobile application developers shows, application writers show an overwhelming desire to support three or perhaps four device platforms. With at least that many already dominating the space, HP needs to demonstrate the revenue earning potential of WebOS devices to developers.

In addition HP needs to bring compelling, and possibly unique, content to Palm devices. It needs to establish the commercial partnerships with content owners but also needs to ensure that billing and settlement infrastructure are built into the WebOS platform.

Palm brand still has value in some markets but needs global relevance Although the Palm brand is not as strong as others in the smartphone market (e.g. Apple, Nokia, Google) it is an established brand and will help HP differentiate from other computer manufacturers (e.g. Dell and Lenovo) as it seeks to become a major player However, although there is some residual brand loyalty from Palm’s glory days, HP need to transform Palm into a globally recognized and relevant brand for today if it to compete successfully in the smartphone market.

HP brings significant scale and manufacturing know-how to PalmAlthough HP faces challenges in turning Palm around it does bring with it some key advantages from its existing business.

First HP brings considerable scale to the operation and its expertise in manufacturing, which will bring efficiencies to Palm’s business. Second it has considerable global distribution networks, although key will be the operator channel, which will assist in getting Palm’s products into the hands of consumers. Third it has sufficient financial strength to invest in Palm without demanding immediate profitability from the business.

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Managed services in the fast paced telecom revolution would be a 4.2 billion dollar business opportunity by 2014, according to experts at a conference held recently. Department of Telecom Secretary P. J. Thomas said Managed Services was emerging as a new science. “This is a great development in the great telecom story” he added, inaugurating the event.

“Telecom sells like fish” but the operators have found that it is more cost beneficial to employ fishermen to catch the fish and for them to focus on marketing it, said Bharti Airtel senior VP for Networks Shyam Prabhakar Mardikar.

Telecom customers doubled in the last two years from 300 million to 600 million but the average revenue per user has exactly halved from Rs 280 to Rs 140, the Airtel executive pointed out. So the operators of the telecom service are making the same amount of money as before despite the doubling of the customer base.

This “is the great growth paradox in telecom” and the focus now was on breaking through the constant level of 400 minutes per user, as the operators wrestle with fast changing technology and explosive scale of growth of network connectivity and look to rural expansion as the next big step for them.

Outsourcing jobs to those who know them best and concentrating on making services as user friendly as possible was helping operators to cuts costs, Mardikar said. “We now sell value added services” and networks were being managed without the operators owning them."

Setting the road ahead for the new growth industry of managed services, Comviva CEO Manoranjan Mohapatra claimed that India “is the pioneer in manages services in telecom”.

This new opportunity was largest in network, then in IT and yet to grow in value added services even where alone it would rise to $400 million business by 2014, the Comviva chief executive predicted. As the number of operators was crowding into the telecom service operation, service differentiation was becoming critical while value added services, a complex area of management was promising the maximum addition of revenue growth. Interdependency of VAS applications was set to form a service.

Mohapatra also predicted a bright future for managed services in the country as the operators were seeking to drive revenues along with the expansion in their customer base breaking the paradox of falling per user revenues in telecom development.

The public sector telecom service providers in the country were also now considering moving towards outsourcing non-core services in place of their current position as integrated service providers setting up networks and managing everything from networks to customer end services, said R. K. Aggarwal, director (consumer mobility), BSNL.

However, he conceded that the public sector units had their own problems in making this move needed to compete with the private sector operators. He dwelt on the problems of this necessary shift in his presentation at the conference, pointing out that winning over the staff in effecting this necessary change was critical.

Describing managed services as an “end to end partnership” between the service operator and the many entities managing their side of the entire service, Vikas Arya, network operations director of Sistema Shyam Teleservices suggested operators should take to “creating modeling” and “thinking outside the box” to overcome the enormous problems of integrating the work of these different partners. Mallikarjuna Rao , chief technology officer of Aircel, also analyzed the challenges in moving over to a fully managed services model of proving telecom services.

Urs Pennanen, Head of India region, Nokia Siemens Networks, added: “We are privileged to be part of this unique platform to share our experience and thought leadership in Managed Services, built through 230 MS contracts and more than 80 multi-vendor MS operations globally. Being the number one managed services provider in India for wireless networks, managing 140 million subscribers for top seven private operators every day and every night, Nokia Siemens Networks is pleased to provide an insight into this global trend that is now catching up across multi-vendor, multi-technology, multi-layer networks as well.”

The experts conclusion was that managed services in India was emerging as a new network driver in the exploding telecom market in the country that is moving to a billion customer base in the near future, as Shashi Dharan, managing director of Bharat Exhibitions, organizers of the conference, said.

“The battle for dominance in the high-tech world increasingly is focused on the mobile Internet. Any company that can manage to control the flow of revenue from wireless data users— coming from subscriptions, ad sales or app store revenues—stands to benefit enormously. With the Palm purchase, HP has positioned itself as a player in this great technology battle.”

* Smart phones represent the hottest segment of the cell phone market. Worldwide smart phone shipments are set to rise to 247 million units in 2010, up 35.5 percent from 182 million in 2009. In contrast, total cell phone shipments are projected to climb to 1.28 billion units in 2010, up 11.3 percent from 1.15 billion in 2009.

* Palm was the world’s 10th-largest smart phone brand in the fourth quarter of 2009, accounting for 1.5 percent of unit shipments. Palm’s share of the global smart phone market has remained flat during the past year, with the company commanding 1.3 percent of shipments in the fourth quarter of 2008. The table presents iSuppli’s ranking of smart phone suppliers in the fourth quarter of 2009.Source: iSuppli, USA

* “Palm’s webOS appears to be superior to the Mac OS X used in the iPhone in the crucial area of multitasking capabilities,” Teng said. “This is a key point of differentiation, combined with the product’s multi-touch display.”

* Based on pricing from June 2009, the Palm Pre carried a bill of materials cost of $170.30, according to iSuppli’s Teardown Analysis service.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Ovum’s new mobile application developer survey found 60 percent of mobile developers are using or plan to use Google’s server-side APIs when building applications, leaving the mobile operators behind at 25 percent.

Michele Mackenzie, independent industry analyst at Ovum, comments: “This is not surprising as Google, leveraging its dominance in the Internet domain, is fast establishing itself as a strong partner in the mobile applications environment.

“Given that mobile operators have put increasing efforts behind API exposure it is perhaps disappointing that only 25 percent of the respondents were supporting or planned to support mobile network operator APIs; particularly when 31 percent of our sample was using or planned to use Facebook APIs. This clearly illustrates that mobile operators have their work cut out but it is still early days and they are not out of the race."

When selecting partners for application development, the top requirements are ease of development (70 percent) followed by breadth of platform functionality (69 percent), good-quality SDKs (68 percent), and flexibility/innovation (63 percent).

In terms of actual channel partners, Apple’s App Store topped the charts, with 74 percent of respondents distributing or planning to distribute their applications through it. Android Market, BlackBerry App World, and Windows Marketplace for Mobile all scored well with more than 50 percent of the sample supporting them.

Eden Zoller, Principal Analyst, comments, “Rather surprisingly the operator portal or application store was not, as one might have expected, the poor relation to the device vendor stores.” A respectable 51 percent of respondents were using the operator as a channel or planned to do so. “Operators are generally perceived as good channel partners because they provide many of the core partner attributes and also support some or all of the devices offered by their rivals listed above.”

When selecting a channel partner for distributing applications, reach is the top priority for developers (32 percent). Put simply, they want to get services in front of as many people as possible. Geographic and local presence is ranked second (12 percent), followed by technical support (10 percent).

Issues relating to business models such as costs, flexibility, and revenue share received a lower ranking, but this should not be taken to mean that these things are not important. It is more a question of getting the fundamentals in place as a priority.

PALO ALTO & SUNNYVALE, USA: HP and Palm Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors.

The combination of HP’s global scale and financial strength with Palm’s unparalleled webOS platform will enhance HP’s ability to participate more aggressively in the fast-growing, highly profitable smartphone and connected mobile device markets. Palm’s unique webOS will allow HP to take advantage of features such as true multitasking and always up-to-date information sharing across applications.

“And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.”

“We’re thrilled by HP’s vote of confidence in Palm’s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP’s longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, Palm. ”We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners.”

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Palm stockholders will receive $5.70 in cash for each share of Palm common stock that they hold at the closing of the merger. The merger consideration takes into account the updated guidance and other financial information being released by Palm this afternoon.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory approvals and the approval of Palm’s stockholders. The transaction is expected to close during HP’s third fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2010.

Palm’s current chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein, is expected to remain with the company.

NEW DELHI, INDIA: India has become the new Chairman of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Council 2010. R.N. Jha, Deputy Director General, Department of Telecommunication (DoT) took over the rotating Chairmanship from Ghana in a meeting recently at Geneva. The Council, ITU’s governing body comprises 46 Member States.

In his opening address as chairman, R.N. Jha said that 2010 Session of Council is particularly important as this is the year of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Mexico on 4-22, October 2010.

The ITU Plenipotentiary Conference is the key event in which its members decide the future role of the organization. This Conference determines the ability of the organizations to influence and affect the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ITC) worldwide.

The Council at present is focusing on the ‘World Telecommunication Development Conference” (WTDC-10) taking place in Hyderabad from 24th May-4th June, 2010.

WASHINGTON, USA: The Wireless Innovation Forum, a non-profit international industry association dedicated to driving the future of radio communications and systems worldwide, today announced the addition of six new member organizations who are focused on providing engineering services and innovative solutions to the advanced wireless community:

Defense Group Inc. is a professional services company, advancing public safety and national security through innovative research, technology applications, systems assessments, logistics support, and international operations expertise.

DGI has key competencies in US strategy and policy, intelligence, weapons of mass destruction, vulnerability assessments, homeland security, and high-risk area operations. DGI provides technologies and well-known products that support the first responder and medical communities. Our customers include a wide range of government organizations at the federal, state and local level as well as commercial clients.

DJH Consulting Inc. is a Pennsylvania research and development organization specializing in knowledge representation technology and wireless communications. Its principal clients are government agencies, including DARPA and the Defense Logistics Agency. A major current activity is participation in the development of a policy language and architecture for dynamic spectrum access.

QuantumTrace specializes in Aerospace and Defense Solutions involving Security, High Performance, Reliability, Advanced Signal Processing, and High Performance Computing, especially applied to Software Defined Radios. It focuses heavily on innovative solutions that help with Size, Weight, Power, and Cost optimization. It offer consulting services, as well as innovative products in these areas. Much of their current focus is on Information Assurance and Anti-Tamper efforts involving both Hardware and Software, especially applied to FPGAs.

QuickFlex specializes in advanced system solutions, including the SCA architecture for JTRS and other radios, and our flagship system-level software and architecture, the Reconfigurable Logic Manager (RLM) for applications and systems using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).

Our patented award-winning product innovations help solve the hardest problems in FPGA-based technologies on custom and general-purpose platforms. QuickFlex’s technologies have received the EDTN Editor’s Choice and the endorsement of industry leaders such as programmable logic expert Dr. Nick Tredennick.

Based in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, customers for QuickFlex software and hardware products and/or services include the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Fortune 100 companies, and NASA, where QuickFlex’s technologies have been designed for use on the International Space Station.

SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering, and technology applications company that uses its deep domain knowledge to solve problems of vital importance to the nation and the world, in national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, and health. We do this with the constant and deliberate commitment to ethical performance and integrity that has marked SAIC since its founding.

Since the early 1970s, Tata Power SED, a division of The Tata Power Co. Ltd, has been a leading private-sector player in the indigenous design, development, production, supply and maintenance of defence systems.

Tata Power SED has contributed to programs of national importance such as the Pinaka MBRL System, Launchers for the Akash Air Force and Army Programs, Samyukta Electronic Warfare Program, Command & Control Systems for Air Defence and Naval Combat. Tata Power SED is currently executing orders for the Pinaka Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher System from the Indian Army and the Integrated Automatic Data Handling System for Air Defence from the Indian Air Force.

The coupling of the IxN2X platform to Ixia hardware provides a seamless integration path for customers who want to take advantage of previous IxN2X investments and test scripting, while needing higher-density 10GE hardware not previously offered by the Agilent N2X product line. It also allows customers to combine N2X and NGY ports in a single test configuration.

“Ixia’s development of the NGY 10GE load module simplifies the integration of IxN2X and Ixia solutions by allowing both sets of applications to run on unifying hardware,” commented Rajiv Papneja, Director of Technology at Isocore. “The combination of IxN2X applications on high-density 10GE cards and ability to use Ixia’s test applications allows users to test a broader spectrum of technologies and devices using a single test platform.”

This combination of the N2X line and Ixia hardware reinforces Ixia’s commitment to preserve the IxN2X roadmap. The demonstration comes on the heels of the just-released 6.13 version of the IxN2X software, which includes valuable new features such as:

Ixia is dedicated to providing the best from both the N2X and Ixia worlds by meeting IxN2X customer commitments and strengthening the IxN2X portfolio via product development and investment. Ixia will also continue to maintain and update its FUSION program to ensure a smooth transition for N2X customers, and to provide the best of N2X and Ixia’s applications to all customers.

“Since its acquisition in October 2009, IxN2X has become an important part of our testing arsenal, and we’re determined to continue to support the software and hardware through technology advances,” said Atul Bhatnagar, president and CEO of Ixia. “With this demonstration at Interop, and the release of the 6.13 software, Ixia has clearly proven that we are committed to delivering on a strong future for IxN2X.”

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

BANGALORE, INDIA: As mobile devices continue to increase in popularity in 2010, Symantec predicts that more attackers will devote time to creating malware to exploit these devices. With more mobile devices accessing corporate networks, often through unprotected pathways, malware writers and criminals will use this window to gain access to sensitive data.

Reinforcing its commitment to fight cybercrime, Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC), makers of Norton Internet Security solutions, and Bharti Airtel, one of Asia’s leading integrated telecom services provider, in collaboration with Lotaris, a Swiss-based Mobile Internet Security service provider, today announced the launch of Norton Smartphone Security for Airtel’s mobile customers in India.

“Mobile Internet adoption rates in India continue to grow rapidly, and Airtel’s adoption of Norton Smartphone Security for its customers is a crucial step in raising consumer awareness of the importance of adopting security for mobile devices,” said Hal Bennett, vice president, global OEM and ISP sales, Symantec.

Designed to provide mobile users the same level of security that has become standard for laptops and other computing devices, Norton Smartphone Security provides a seamless user experience to Windows Mobile and Symbian smartphone users. It provides mobile operators and service providers with the ability to deliver services, over-the-air, in flexible subscription-centric service models and to bill their subscribers directly.

Shireesh Joshi, Director, Marketing – Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel said: “As an increasing number of our mobile customers use their phone to access the internet and hold sensitive personal and business information, data security becomes a genuine concern. With the Norton Smartphone Security, we are offering our mobile customers a one-stop security solution in an easy to purchase model. This latest innovation is in line with our commitment to constantly enrich our customers’ experience.”

Available for Airtel mobile customers on their WAP Market place, Airtel Live, the one-stop anti-virus, anti-spam and firewall solution, Norton Smartphone Security, has been provided to Airtel through the Lotaris technology platform which is highly addressable with its mobile internet security services.

“The Indian market is a great indicator of the future mobile environment. Having Airtel recognize the significance of Mobile Internet Security is a major milestone for the entire industry. Symantec’s Norton security products are trusted by customers throughout the world and Lotaris is delighted to extend its reach in the Indian market and beyond,” said Elaine Moran, Business Development Manager, Lotaris SA. “We are confident that Indian consumers would benefit immensely from this service which we provide with our local integration partner, Techzone.”

The Norton Smartphone Security on Airtel Live offers the following features:

The one-stop anti-virus, anti-spam and firewall solution will be available for Airtel mobile customers on Airtel Live for just Rs. 10 per week. With this, Airtel offers an easy to buy and pay solution – customers simply download from Airtel Live and the cost gets deducted from the balance talk time or added to the monthly bill. The service is available for a free, seven-day trial period.

EL SEGUNDO, USA: The cell phone industry is proclaiming the end of the recession for the segment following an outstanding final quarter of 2009 and a projected substantial growth for smart phones in 2010, according to iSuppli Corp.

A resilient performer in an otherwise moribund world economy during the past year, cell phones ended 2009 with shipments of 1.15 billion units. While that number is down from the overall 2008 figure of 1.2 billion handsets, shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009 represented the culmination of an increasing growth pattern throughout all of last year.

Compared to third-quarter shipments of 290 million, about 335 million mobile handsets shipped in the fourth quarter, up 15.5 percent.

“Given the recovery of the market in the final quarter of 2009, and with Europe, Latin America and the Middle East/Africa regions doing exceptionally well during the period, the recession can be said to be officially over for the cell phone industry,” said Tina Teng, senior analyst for wireless systems at iSuppli. “The continued growth this year of total handsets—up a projected 11.3 percent to 1.3 billion units—further bolsters such a view.”

Among the various handset categories, smart phones—defined as handsets with a high-level operating system—are projected to expand 35.5 percent in 2010. Smart phone growth will be driven by a number of promising developments, including the introduction of entry-level smart phones, enthusiasm from vendors across the mobile phone and PC industries, the prevalence of 3G network deployments and the promotion of data-centric services in mature markets.

The figure shows iSuppli’s forecast for worldwide mobile handset shipments for the period of 2008 to 2014.Source: iSuppli, USA

With handset shipments in the fourth quarter of 2009 amounting to approximately 257.6 million units, the Top 5 players accounted for a whopping 77 percent share of the total handset market.

Nokia Corp. remained the leader of the handset market, shipping 126.9 million handsets during the period, giving it a 37.9 percent share of market. Runner-up Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., which has introduced its own smart phone operating system, held the No. 2 spot with 20.6 percent share.

The remainder of the Top 5 is rounded out by LG Electronics, in third place with 10.1 percent share; Sony Ericsson in fourth, with 4.4 percent share; and Chinese giant ZTE, whose impressive 77 percent growth from the earlier quarter vaulted it into fifth place, with a 4 percent share.

A second Chinese handset manufacturer, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, landed in seventh place after also finishing an outstanding quarter with 82.4 percent growth.

Together, the two Chinese companies indicate the strong momentum occurring in the emerging market as well as an increasing presence in Europe on their part with key operators.

BOSTON, USA: Once viewed as a rising star in the digital television ecosystem, IPTV has largely failed to deliver on its promise, according to a report just published by analyst firm Strategy Analytics. As a result, many industry watchers—including Strategy Analytics—have revised their IPTV estimates downward.

“IPTV service providers have failed to answer the fundamental ‘why’ question,” according to Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Multiplay Market Dynamics service. “Why would an otherwise satisfied customer drop an existing service and sign up for IPTV? What features, content, or functionality does IPTV have that cable and satellite lack? Interactivity was IPTV’s promise, but so far we’ve seen little delivered.”

Addressable advertising, the notion of interactive and targeted messages directed towards specific consumer segments at the individual or household level, is viewed by many as a hallmark of IPTV technology. The concept is not new, but commercial deployment has been slow.

There are glimmers of hope, however, according to Strategy Analytics. San Jose-based BlackArrow, an addressable advertising provider, recently announced that it had raised $20 million its latest round of funding. Led by NDS, and backed by other ecosystem heavy hitters such as Cisco, Comcast, and Intel, this intensive capital injection could very well propel addressable advertising—and the promise of IPTV—forward.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: NetLogic Microsystems Inc. has announced the launch of the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance to drive best-in-class innovations in multi-core parallel processing platforms and software development for next-generation enterprise, telecom and data center networks.

Supported by a broad base of world-class hardware and software providers, the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance serves as the foundation upon which original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can more effectively and more efficiently develop high-performance networking equipment using industry-leading multi-core processors.

“We are in the early deployment phase of what is likely to be an industry-wide, multi-decade migration to multi-core processors across multiple markets and Tier One OEM platforms,” said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst at The Linley Group.

“Some of the key challenges in this migration include the significant effort required to parallelize software code originally developed for single-core processors, as well as the need to achieve efficient hardware partitioning between control and data plane processing. The eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance is a big step in accelerating the adoption of multi-core processors by bringing together partners to make best-in-class hardware and software available to system developers. We applaud the members of the Alliance for driving this initiative.”

“The eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance brings together the very best platform and software providers who provide a wide portfolio of solutions and who are leaders in their respective areas of expertise,” said Behrooz Abdi, executive vice president and general manager at NetLogic Microsystems.

“The Alliance provides a foundation upon which developers can innovate to create new, breakthrough solutions that can take full advantage of the superior performance and functionality of multi-core processors. We are pleased to see the strong support of the Alliance from other industry leaders, and we welcome other multi-core processor vendors to be part of this Alliance to collaboratively drive innovations for next-generation platforms.”

As a founding member of the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance, NetLogic Microsystems is committed to an open programming model for its family of market-leading multi-core, multi-threaded processors to allow greater access and tighter coupling between networking software and the XLR, XLS and XLP multi-core processors.

This enables significant improvements in the application development efficiency of software code and overall system performance. In addition, this enables the development of new enhanced services and applications for next-generation Internet networks that are highly optimized for multi-core, multi-threaded processors.

“We are committed to the development and rapid adoption of high-performance Multicore solutions," stated Glenn Perry, general manager of Mentor Graphics embedded software division. "Mentor's investment in Multicore development technologies and services is further evidenced by becoming a founding member of the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance."

“As an early pioneer in AdvancedTCA packet processing platforms and multi-core optimized Trillium protocol software, we at Continuous Computing are excited to join forces with other technology leaders in the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance to drive the success and proliferation of high-performance multi-core processors,” said Mike Coward, CTO and co-founder at Continuous Computing.

“As illustrated by our recent performance achievement of Trillium SCTP FastPath yielding over 1 million packets per second with 64K associations on only three cores of the NetLogic Microsystems XLR processor on our FlexPacket ATCA-PP50 packet processing blade, Continuous Computing’s multi-core hardware and software solutions deliver a superior set of scalable, best-in-class capabilities for Long Term Evolution (LTE), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) wireless and packet processing applications.”

Multi-core hardware and software providers, which have announced participation in the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance include:

“Multicore processors are central to the deployment of rich-media services and the transition to all-IP networks by leading carriers and service providers worldwide,” said Mathias Båth, senior vice president of marketing at Enea. “The eNsemble Alliance is poised to play a critical role in this transition by bringing together technology leaders to innovate and collaborate in order to accelerate the adoption of multicore processors.”

“We are very pleased to be a part of the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance, and we strongly believe this industry initiative will help drive the rapid adoption of high-performance multi-core processors,” said Eric Carmes, CEO at 6WIND. “Our 6WINDGate software maximizes the packet processing performance of networking and telecom equipment based on multi-core processors. We are committed to continuing our leadership position in multi-core software for next-generation networks.”

“Advantech has a long history of working with multi-core processors, and we are excited to continue our innovative leadership by joining the prestigious eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance,” said Eddie Lai, Director of Business Development for Advantech Network Computing Group. “By collaborating with other technology leaders, we aim to accelerate the adoption of ATCA-based multi-core blades and solutions.”

“Aricent is very enthusiastic about the opportunity to collaborate with the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance membership,” said Rakesh Vij, assistant vice president at Aricent. “It is important for us to provide LTE software framework solutions for Multi-Core programming environments, which help to improve time to market and reduce development costs for our customers who develop the latest 4G infrastructure.”

“Being part of organizations such as eNsemble has always been valuable to Lanner’s core business,” said Jesse Chang, Senior Product Planner, Lanner. “By working with other eNsemble™ Alliance members, Lanner is able to leverage our vast experience in the networking industry to deliver power network appliance platforms for next generation network infrastructure devices.”

Supported by a broad base of world-class hardware and software providers, the eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance serves as the foundation upon which original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can more effectively and more efficiently develop high-performance networking equipment using industry-leading multi-core processors.

The eNsemble Multi-Core Alliance brings together the very best hardware and software providers who offer wide portfolios and who are leaders in their respective areas of expertise. The Alliance creates a platform on which developers can innovate to create new, breakthrough applications that can take full advantage of the superior performance and functionality of multi-core processors.

Interop Las Vegas 2010, CALABASAS, USA: Ixia, a leading provider of converged IP network test solutions, will partner with Cisco and Emulex to demonstrate a proof-of-concept data center carrying combined network and storage traffic between server-assets across a converged data center infrastructure under high traffic loads.

The demonstration, taking place at Interop Las Vegas, booth #1359, will be using a combination of Ixia, Cisco, and Emulex equipment.

The end-to-end converged data center demonstration showcases a live setup of server virtualization and I/O consolidation over a converged fabric. The multi-vendor demonstration consists of a lossless Ethernet infrastructure powered by the Cisco Nexus 5010, high performance rack-mount servers using the Cisco Unified Computing System C200 M1, and I/O consolidation with Emulex OneConnect Universal Converged Network Adapters.

Ixia’s IxVM will provide performance characterization of the virtual switch by generating storage access and server-generated network traffic, while IxNetwork will measure the throughput of the system by delivering high scale converged traffic from FCoE to native Fibre Channel using Ixia’s newly-released Fibre Channel load module.

“Migrating from 1 GE to 10 GE in the data center requires expanded capabilities for IP, iSCSI, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE),” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of business development at Emulex. “This demonstration is a proof-of-concept for diagnostic instrumentation that measures converged data center technologies, demands and requirements, and is another validation of the growth of the 10 GE-based network convergence ecosystem.”

Ixia’s new Fibre Channel Ethernet load module is currently a finalist for “Best in Show” at Interop 2010.

“Today’s converged data center brings together complex technologies such as virtualization, storage and Ethernet networks,” said Victor Alston, Senior VP Product Development for Ixia. “To effectively deploy the combination of these complex technologies requires systematic testing across the converged next generation infrastructure that Ixia is delivering today.”

The lawsuit is based on the unveiling by HTC of its MyTouch 3G mobile phones, which use Klausner Technologies' Visual Voicemail patented technology. Various other HTC models with the Visual Voicemail feature are already covered under Klausner Technologies Visual Voicemail patent licenses granted to certain mobile operators for their Visual Voicemail services.

Klausner Technologies currently has 27 Visual Voicemail patent licensees under its US, European and Asian patents, including major U.S. and European mobile operators, international cell phone manufacturers, cable/VOIP providers as well as other providers of Visual Voicemail services.

“Intellectual property gives meaning and structure to the greatest resource of all – human imagination. Songwriters collect royalties for the songs they compose, playwrights for the plays they write and inventors for the patents they create,” said Judah Klausner, Klausner Technologies’ President. The suit has been filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas by the California law firm of Dovel & Luner.

Combining Xelerated’s programmable Ethernet switches and data plane software with Accton’s system level product and production expertise, the two companies are bringing to market Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) access switches enabling broadband access equipment vendors to accelerate time-to-market by six to nine months, and gain first mover advantage.

Xelerated and Accton will showcase their first product, a Gigabit Ethernet fiber access switch at the upcoming Interop show in Las Vegas. The product is designed to serve the quickly emerging next-generation fiber access market with up to gigabit per second customer connection speeds.

Broadband access equipment vendors are under constant pressure to stay ahead of the market with the latest features and support to ever-evolving standards. The customizable design of the new product enables in-service adaptation to future standards and continued innovation by software upgrades.

It also provides industry-leading port and service density with 44 GE point-to-point access ports and four 10GE uplink ports in one rack unit space. The data plane is based on Xelerated’s unified fiber access software, which supports point-to-point Ethernet, PON and mobile backhaul applications. The hardware platform has been designed for easy adaptation to alternative configurations in these areas.

“The new Gigabit Ethernet fiber access switch enables broadband access equipment vendors to quickly customize it to their needs and roadmap, ultimately extending product lifetimes. The ability to flexibly program next-generation fiber access products is a strategic direction for the industry, as standards and requirements continue to evolve,” said CC Lee, VP/Engineering, of Accton. “We are very proud to join forces with Xelerated to offer the first customizable high-density gigabit Ethernet access switch.”

Recently, government programs in the US and globally have spurred high interest in next-generation high-speed Internet access for the mass market. By bringing together the industry’s highest performing yet programmable switching and platform technologies, Xelerated and Accton support the widest range of business and technical requirements, including the ability to adapt the product for different regional market conditions.

“Our joint product with Accton underscores the viability of a unified approach to next-generation fiber access. Broadband access equipment vendors can customize the solution to integrate with their existing access portfolio and capture a first-mover advantage for the gigabit access market,” said Thomas Axelsson, CEO at Xelerated.

“Accton is a leading original design manufacturer, and one we are thrilled to partner with as we work together toward helping equipment vendors unify their access portfolio, providing feature differentiation and accelerating their overall time-to-market.”

America Movil is the fourth largest carrier in the world with more than 200 million mobile subscribers and 17 Latin American operations.

Windows Live has a strong customer base in Latin America with millions of customers using the services on their PC. By delivering Windows Live application via INI’s flexible Windows Live Gateway, América Móvil subscribers will now gain access to one of the most popular Internet tools from a mobile device, enabling them to connect, chat, check emails and share photos with their loved ones anywhere, anytime.

“We are delighted to work with América Móvil, a clear market leader, to deliver Microsoft’s Windows Live services to its vast mobile subscriber base,” said Arvind Venkateswaran, Geodesic’s Senior Vice President and General Manager.

“This agreement reaffirms Geodesic and INI’s commitment to provide cutting-edge mobile services that support the rapidly growing demand for mobile IM and mobile-based social networking services. We will continue to provide innovative Web and mobile value-added services that will help our customers to boost revenues and ARPU.”

América Móvil and INI are conducting a gradual rollout to the carrier’s user base, having already launched the Windows Live mobile service to subscribers in Telcel Mexico.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Banks making a concerted push to promote contactless payment technology are focusing on the wrong target and should switch their short-term focus to m-commerce.

That’s the main conclusion of a major new report* by independent technology analyst Ovum, which finds that m-commerce is set to experience a renaissance as industry players express renewed interest and mobile banking services take root.

Alex Kwiatkowski, principal analyst at Ovum and report co-author, said the resurgence of m-commerce – which Ovum defines as the purchase of physical products, services and digital content where the transaction is initiated and payment completed through use of the over-the-air (OTA) element of a mobile device – presents financial institutions with a “golden opportunity” that they cannot afford to miss.

He said: “Ovum believes m-commerce has a vital role to play in the adoption of the next generation of contactless mobile payment instruments. Indeed, banks face the danger of losing market share if they do not play an active role in m-commerce developments.

“In the past, banks were studiously indifferent to m-commerce, preferring to let others – most notably those within the mobile operator community – attempt to stimulate growth. This passivity must change.

“If retail banks procrastinate over playing an active role in the future development of m-commerce, Ovum believes this will cost them dearly in the medium- to long-term as they cannot afford to see ‘PayPal 2.0’ come marching over the horizon to further erode their revenues derived from payments.”

Ovum, working in collaboration with colleagues in Datamonitor’s Financial Services team, has identified several market factors that point towards a renaissance in m-commerce.

Retailers are anxious to reap the benefits of m-commerce to drive revenues, and mobile operators want to increase the use of data services to halt declining annual revenues.

According to Ovum’s sister company Verdict Research, the UK m-commerce market is currently worth $183.8m and represents 0.6 percent of online spending. Between 2009 and 2012, Verdict forecasts the market will increase by 87 percent.

Kieran Hines, report co-author and lead financial services analyst at Datamonitor, said: “While m-commerce has witnessed many false starts in the past, the view from the retail community that the economics of contactless do not stack up for them at present* has created an industry standoff. This means m-commerce has the chance to come to the fore again.

“Fundamentally, and unlike NFC (near field communication)*, m-commerce is something that retailers are keen to pursue and is therefore an opportunity that must be taken by banks if the threat of further loss of payment market share to non-bank competitors is to be avoided.”

Ovum believes m-commerce can act as the foundation layer for other mobile payment mechanisms, and instead of being overshadowed by the more fashionable NFC can be a catalyst for future use of contactless services.

Kwiatkowski believes the need for a ‘gateway’ mobile payment instrument means m-commerce will be central to the future evolution of mobile payments.

He said: “Consumers will not leap from avoiding using mobile handsets in payments to employing a full suite of mobile banking and payment services overnight. M-commerce acts as a bridge for the consumer to wider mobile activity. It also provides a way for the payment industry to develop a complete suite of product offerings.

“Crucially for banks, m-commerce is the most easily addressable segment of mobile payments. NFC is the largest market opportunity in mobile payments by value*, but cannot be tapped in the short term. Therefore, m-commerce offers the best target for banks to concentrate on – at least in the short term.”

Saturday, April 24, 2010

BEIJING, CHINA: Nokia has strengthened its TD-SCDMA portfolio by announcing two new devices: the Nokia X5 and the Nokia C5 for TD-SCDMA.

Customized for China Mobile - the world's leading operator - these two new TD-SCDMA devices which include the first joint mobile application store, the Mobile Market-Ovi Store, are another demonstration of Nokia's continued commitment to TD-SCDMA as a major standard in China.

The Nokia X5 and C5 will debut at the World Expo Shanghai 2010, where consumers can test the Nokia TD-SCDMA devices powerful entertainment features and rich internet experience in the China Mobile Expo area.

With these devices, users can connect to the internet through China Mobiles high-speed 3G (TD-SCDMA) network as well as enjoy preloaded applications such as CMCC Music, Mobile Video, Fetion IM, and the Mobile Market-Ovi Store.

"Nokia is boosting its leadership in the TD-SCDMA market by strengthening its TD-SCDMA portfolio with products that appeal to a wide range of customers at a range of price points. After the milestone collaboration with China Mobile on the Mobile Market-Ovi Store, we also continue to offer new and stylish devices to satisfy our consumers," said Chris Leong, Senior Vice President, Greater China, Korea & Japan.

"We are also very excited to become a board member of TD Forum after being involved in the forum's activities for years. We have a long-term commitment to TD-SCDMA and we take our leadership role very seriously. We will continue to drive for TD-SCDMA technology and market development as well as evolution towards TD-LTE. And thus will contribute the prosperity of TD-SCDMA in China, with both high quality TD-SCDMA devices and rich applications and services." Leong added.

Nokia X5: An exciting music experience and iconic design make users stand out from the crowd.

Designed for music lovers and young trendsetters, the new Nokia X5 is the first Nokia TD-SCDMA Symbian based entertainment device. Taking the lead on music experience in the TD-SCDMA market, the Nokia X5 includes a dedicated music key and easy access to CMCC music.

With an iconic design in three bright colors - black, white, and red, the Nokia X5 is certain to make younger Chinese consumers stand out from the crowd.

With its 5.0-megapixel camera, dual LED flash and video recording functions, the Nokia X5 ensures users will never miss an opportunity to record life's important moments. The device makes it easy to recall those special moments for viewing pictures and videos on a 2.4'' QVGA 16M color TFT display.

The Nokia C5 is a stylish, powerful TD-SCDMA device at a new affordability level in Nokia's TD-SCDMA portfolio and is guaranteed to turn heads. The Nokia C5 has a stylish stainless-steel keypad in a compact design. Rich in features and applications, the Nokia C5 is pre-loaded with Fetion and 139 mailbox, and offers easy access to all services and applications on MM-Ovi Store.

Offering a 5.0 megapixel camera and a 2.4'' QVGA 16M color TFT display to allow consumers to take, view great pictures and videos in great detail and share with family and friends. There are two colors schemes available - silver and black.

The Nokia C5 will become available in China during the third quarter of 2010.

UK: Alcatel-Lucent has created a 300Mbps pipe using what it has dubbed “Phantom Mode” technology to create a “phantom” channel in between two physical copper pairs, applying vectoring to eliminate the resultant cross-talk and bonding all three pairs, real and virtual.

As Alcatel-Lucent itself points out, creating a phantom channel is not new; a version of a phantom mode circuit was invented in 1886. DSL bonding and vectoring are technology advances being adopted by other vendors too (Ericsson, for example). But what Alcatel-Lucent has demonstrated is the impact of combining all three elements.

The technology can be extended to multiple pairs, creating multiple phantom channels that would boost existing bandwidth capacity between 50% and 100%, but the most realistic scenario remains the consideration of two copper pairs, which is present in much of the US and Europe. Given the potential bandwidth boost possible, the additional cost of using this technology would be low because it would use existing copper lines.

Challenges will take time to resolveAlcatel-Lucent is working on the development of a compatible DSL modem that will support three bonded pairs and on the integration of this technology into its DSL line cards. Additional challenges will be to eliminate potential electro-magnetic interference issues while improving energy efficiency.

Alcatel-Lucent will market this technology as part of a standardized solution. Vectoring will be a part of the VDSL2 standard only, so using this technology over ADSL (still the dominant DSL technology worldwide) would take it outside the standards domain, and the bandwidth boost would be much smaller.

For VDSL, the benefits would be maximum at or around the 400-meter range, beyond which point the VDSL bit rate declines significantly. This means that, in order to achieve the promised 300Mbps, providers may still have to roll out FTTN, FTTC, or even FTTB if not already deployed. (At greater distances, the speed will be lower but can still be competitive.)

It’s another arrow in the arsenal of a service provider that is facing competition and intends to roll out FTTH eventually, but only has the time and resources to roll it out to the curb for the time being.

Will it be too late for Alcatel-Lucent and other vendors pursuing DSL technology advances?The timeline for the benefits of these DSL developments to reach the market remains a challenge. Bonding trials were held by Alcatel-Lucent in November 2009 and vectoring field trials are scheduled later this year.

We may see commercial deployments of these two technologies in the next couple of years but utilization of both along with the Phantom Mode is still some years away. Meanwhile, AT&T is scheduled to finish its FTTN+VDSL U-verse deployment to 30 million US households by 2011.

For service providers in Europe that state regulatory uncertainty as a barrier to deploying next-generation access networks, these technology breakthroughs will present attractive alternatives. Also, despite the FTTH gains around the world, the reality is that service providers still struggle to provide fiber access, especially the last few hundred meters to the home, which often accounts for a significant proportion of deployment costs.

VDSL will defy the DSL slowdown given its role in reaching the customer in FTTB, FTTC, and FTTN deployments. Alcatel-Lucent, with a leading 54 percent share of the VDSL market globally, stands to benefit from the success of any technologies or techniques that extend the life of the DSL market, particularly VDSL.

Friday, April 23, 2010

WASHINGTON, USA: In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, CTIA-The Wireless Association is continuing to raise awareness about the wireless industry’s green initiatives and the numerous ways wireless technologies are helping companies around the world and across all sectors reduce their carbon footprints, increase efficiencies and cut costs.

CTIA-The Wireless Association President and CEO Steve Largent, said: “Earth Day serves to remind all of us to re-evaluate our environmental impact – whether it’s as an individual or as part of a business. Our members recognize their responsibility and have been leaders in developing environmentally-friendly products and services, implementing energy-conscious measures in their network operations and business practices and educating consumers about end-of-life and recycling device and accessory programs.”

By implementing wireless technology, businesses around the country – and world – are saving millions of dollars and reducing their environmental footprint. When businesses wirelessly submit work orders, customer forms and credit card payments, millions of dollars are saved each year on paper and fuel costs.

By wirelessly monitoring and routing their fleets, a wide array of entities and businesses, from school districts and farmers to city sanitation departments and public transportation systems, are saving millions of gallons of fuel and cutting thousands of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions every year. Finally, smart grid technologies are beginning to be deployed as a promising way to advance energy independence and efficiency.

Wireless companies are also enhancing and implementing eco-friendly practices in their own businesses. With energy accounting for about 86 percent of a wireless carrier’s expense, many are exploring the use of alternative energy sources such as wind, bio-fuel and solar power at cell sites. Additional energy-conscious measures being implemented by wireless companies include:

* Using more energy-efficient and environmentally responsible equipment and components in their overall operations to find energy savings of up to 70 percent and substantial reductions in their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

* Developing eco-friendly devices and accessories such as carbon neutral phones and solar-powered handsets and chargers.

Improving the design of wireless devices and packaging to be more lightweight and environmentally-friendly. The use of substances such as lead and cadmium are being phased out of devices while increasing the use of recycled materials. In fact, the new generations of wireless devices currently weigh approximately 79g; this is 42 percent less than earlier models.

The wireless industry is also committed to supporting a “one-charger-fits-all” Universal Charger Solution (UCS) for new wireless devices, beginning January 1, 2012 as a way to reduce energy consumption and consumer costs.

Developed by the Open Mobile Terminal Platform industry standards group and adopted by GSMA, the UCS will provide an estimated 50 percent reduction in standby energy consumption. The UCS will use the Micro-USB format as the common universal charging interface and use energy efficient chargers in compliance with the US “Energy Star” requirements for external power adapters.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

CAMARILLO, USA: Vitesse Semiconductor Corp., a leading provider of advanced IC solutions for carrier and Enterprise networks, has announced the second generation of its award-winning EcoEthernet technology, with power-saving features exceeding the IEEE’s 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet standards.

EcoEthernet 2.0 delivers the industry’s richest energy efficient feature set and minimizes power in the network by optimizing performance for all link speeds. For the first time, Vitesse’s solution offers industry OEMs unique energy-saving flexibility in temperature monitoring, smart fan control, and adjustable LED brightness for green network appliances.

Features intended to reduce fan and front-panel display power ensure that switches and Carrier access systems based on EcoEthernet 2.0 will offer the lowest possible energy use for the next- generation of green network appliances.

The recent work of the IEEE’s 802.3az EEE Task Force to establish further green opportunities for Ethernet are aligned with coalition efforts such as The Green Grid and GreenTouch for making Enterprise, data center, and telecom networks more energy efficient. Vitesse’s EcoEthernet technology allows manufacturers to design products for these emerging standards.

“Until now, most Ethernet IC development has focused solely on the cost and performance gains achieved by using 65-nm technology. However, relying on this process alone is not a comprehensive green strategy,” said Jason Rock, product marketing manager at Vitesse.

“Vitesse’s EcoEthernet 2.0 is essential to fully optimize energy-efficiency, by accounting for system factors such as fan power, display power, and other aspects of a networking or IT system that can affect power load. EcoEthernet 2.0 not only gives our customers a differentiator for their products, but helps them maximize resources and gain a competitive edge.”

NEW DELHI, INDIA: ALCATEL Mobile in association with ICE Mobile Network Systems Ltd is all set to roll out their premier product- ALCATEL ICE3 in the Indian market.The maiden product ALCATEL ICE3, launched by National award winner Bollywood actor Kangna Ranaut, is a feature rich stylishly designed mobile handset clubbed with complete social networking experience at a very affordable price of about INR 7000 for Indian market.

Bollywood actor and National award winner, Kangna Ranaut has been roped in to endorse the brand as a perfect fit for its trendy, stylish and young image. Kangna Ranaut says, "ICE is a young, hip, cool and stylish phone. I love its distinctive look, and believe it offers great features. It is priced very affordably, and I'm sure it will be a very popular phone in the market. "

M.S. Malik, Director of ICE Mobile Network Systems said: "ICE Systems is committed to bring world class devices with latest Technology, Trend and Design to the Indian customers. Indeed, it is an honour to get associated with TCT Mobile and together we are launching five new ALCATEL handset models in the next three months and establish a presence of at least a million handsets within a span of six months in the Indian market".

Praveen Valecha, Country Manager, ALCATEL Mobile added: "We are indeed very aggressive in our approach and are also aiming to rank amongst the top three mobile handset providers in QWERTY, EMAIL and MULTIMEDIA HANDSET CATEGORY by 2012 in India".

ALCATEL Mobiles are the partners for design and manufacturing to ICE mobile network and will be launching many products in association with each other. Together, the mobile telephone majors are all set to revolutionize the Indian mobile phone market with intriguing new trends in technology and design. The Indian mobile telephony market promises a huge untapped potential which these together are looking at.

MUMBAI, INDIA: Cisco has launched the new Linksys Wireless-N Access Point with Dual-Band (WAP610N) for the Indian market.

Fast, powerful and simple to install, the new Access Point upgrades your existing wired or wireless home network to high speed Dual Band Wireless-N.

Optimized to stream HD video across the home network, the WAP610N works on both wireless frequencies, 2.4 and 5 GHz, to provide more reliable streaming and less interference from other products, or your neighbour’s network.

The WAP610N is also ideal for SOHO applications. Wireless-N can deliver the necessary bandwidth you need for VoIP telephony, high volume data transfers or back-ups, web surfing and emailing - everything you need to do to be more productive at work in your home office.

The access point also comes with a Windows and Macintosh compatible set up wizard, designed to simplify set-up, giving users step-by-step instructions. The wizard will also prompt users to enable security settings, helping prevent network hijacking which can lead to bandwidth constraints and online fraud. With the integrated Wi-Fi Protected Setup, consumers can just push a button on the Access Point and on another device to automatically create a secure wireless connection.

EL SEGUNDO, USA: To support media coverage of Nokia’s first-quarter results, iSuppli Corp. is issuing the following fast facts:

* The global cell-phone market in the first quarter is likely to be somewhat stronger than expected. Initial reports from wireless component suppliers suggest that global shipments in the first quarter of 2010 will vary only slightly compared to the fourth quarter of 2009, defying the normal seasonal slowdown that typically occurs during the first three months of the year.

* Global mobile handset shipments in the first quarter of 2010 soared compared to the same period in 2009 when the wireless communications market was mired in the global economic downturn.

* Nokia in the first quarter is expected to maintain its position as the world’s leading cell-phone brand. The company in the fourth quarter of 2009 held 37.9 percent share of global unit shipments of cell phones.

* The company us also expected to retain its leadership in the smartphone segment.

* “Facing severe competition from slick rivals, including the iPhone and Google Android-based models, Nokia’s leadership position in the global smart-phone market began to erode starting in the second quarter of 2008,” said Tina Teng, senior wireless communications analyst or iSuppli.

“By the third quarter of 2009, Nokia’s share of shipments had declined to 34.5 percent, down from a recent high of 41 percent in the first quarter of 2008. However, by the fourth quarter of 2009, Nokia’s share of smart phone shipments recovered to nearly 40 percent, at 38.7 percent.”

NEW DELHI, INDIA: With the telecom sector emerging as the largest consumer of energy in India, Renewable Energy Option for the Telecom industry were discussed at a national round table inaugurated by Hon’ble Thiru A Raja, Union Minister of Communication & IT and Hon’ble Dr. Farooq Abdhullah, Union Minister of New & Renewable Energy in the presence of Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman CMAI, an integrated association for IT and telecom companies in India.Currently, the total carbon emission from cell phone towers is 11.76 billion pounds or 5.3 million tons annually in India. The annual cost of diesel incurred on running the towers across India is estimated at Rs. 6400 crore.

These significant facts highlight the growing need to promote the adoption of renewable energy options for Telecom sector in India. Alternative energy options, including solar and wind energy can address the challenge of unavailability of reliable power supply in semi-urban, rural and remote areas thus enabling telecom connectivity for the remote parts of the country.

Addressing the seminar, Thiru A Raja, Union Minister of Communication & IT said that while the growth of telecom sector has been good in urban locations, much needed to be done in rural areas. To sustain and accelerate it further, there was a need to encourage telecom service providers to view the rural markets as an opportunity.

Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister of New & Renewable Energy laid emphasis on the utilization of renewable energy by the telecom players for their towers and commented that industry should come forward in utilization of Renewable Energy.

Venugopal Dhoot, Chairman CMAI, said that India is expected to have one billion mobile phone subscribers by 2015 that means about 250,000 more mobile towers. He said: “Going forward, going green and pushing India’s dream of solar power is the need of the hour. We look forward to the Government to support the adoption of renewable energy in telecom sector through suitable policy instruments.”

Hon’ble Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Thiru A Raja also launched the publication, ‘Role of Renewable Energy in Telecom’ by CMAI’s knowledge partner Mazars. The publication highlights the utility of renewable energy and other related technological innovations in the telecom sector, while also identifying advantages of alternative sources of energy and their impact on reducing costs of running the network critical equipment.

Green solutions to power problems for rural telephony and changing the economics of backup power were discussed at the round table.

* Total revenue for all kinds of semiconductors used in cell phones in the first calendar quarter of 2010 amounted to $9.4 billion, up 4.6 percent from $9.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a preliminary estimate from iSuppli.

This sequential growth in sales runs contrary to the normal seasonal pattern wherein cell-phone-related semiconductor sales decline in the first quarter from the holiday-driven peak in the fourth quarter.

* “The unusually strong conditions in the global mobile phone semiconductor market in the first quarter mainly were driven by the smart phone segment and rising sales of 3G handsets,” said Francis Sideco, principal analyst, wireless communications, for iSuppli.

“Smart phones contain more semiconductor content than plain cell phones, and their share of total mobile handset shipments is rising. Meanwhile, 3G phones also carry a higher semiconductor content than the older 2G models, and represent an increasing portion of total cell phone sales.”

* Qualcomm is expected to report strong revenue and profits for the first quarter. However, this mainly will be driven by increases in Intellectual Property (IP) and licensing revenue, rather than from shipments of chips.

* Qualcomm was the leading supplier of Integrated Circuit (IC) semiconductors for mobile handsets in the fourth quarter of 2009, with a 24.8 percent share of global revenue. However, the company’s share was down from 26.2 percent in the third quarter of 2009 and 29.9 percent in the second quarter.

* “Qualcomm in recent quarters has been losing share in mobile handset ICs to competitors including ST-Ericsson, Infineon and MediaTek,” Sideco said. “While this trend is likely to continue in the first quarter, Qualcomm’s results should provide some indication of whether it has started to stem the tide.”

* While Qualcomm is facing challenges in its core mobile-handset business, the company is taking steps to expand its sales into other product areas.

* “With its Snapdragon processor IC, Qualcomm is vying to address non-handset applications, such as smartbooks, a new type of mobile device that combines features of smart phones and laptop PCs. Products like the snapdragon command higher Average Selling Prices (ASPs) than most ICs used in mobile phones. Revenue-wise, the Snapdragon could make a big impact on Qualcomm’s results in 2010.”

DUBAI, UAE: Dubai Media Inc. (DMI) has deployed the city wide wireless camera solution during the opening of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

Dubai Media achieved a technical feat that many in the region would have thought impossible by providing live coverage of this most prestigious event, January 4th 2010, from several locations within a very short space of time by roaming with just one camera and a LINK L1500 transmitter.

The technical solution was made possible because DMI has invested in an advanced RF network for its wireless camera operations enabled by VISLINK’s Cellular Diversity technology to facilitate newsgathering in and around the city centre. It is the first network of this kind in the Arab speaking world.

The city wide wireless camera solution was also installed by VISLINK and comprises a wireless camera system which transmits low power signals to a portable repeater system. This can be rigged on a building, car, boat or helicopter as required. This then re transmits the signal at high power to the diversity receive system at the Dubai World Trade Centre and back to the DMI studios. Dubai Media Incorporated can use any standard professional broadcast camera fitted with the LINK L1500 transmitter operating at 7GHz.

Hassan Chahine, Chief Technical Officer, speaking for Dubai Media, says: “We acquired the system because we could see that it would enable us to capture live events directly from the streets of Dubai without using much effort or resources to set up prior to going live. However, we have been surprised at the power and reliability of the system following the successful deployment during the high profile event. The VISLINK solution enables us to capture live pictures in a short interval of time that would not otherwise be possible.”

Mather Al Ali, Vislink’s General Manager for the Middle East and North Africa says: “Dubai Media is the first broadcaster in the Middle East region to benefit from this technology, their investment makes them true innovators. The equipment that is installed has huge potential all over the Middle East. It can be upgraded to HD in future through a simple onsite software license key.

“The system allows Dubai Media to cover most of the city with a live high quality contribution link through a simple wireless camera. Indeed the wireless camera does not even need to have a line of sight to the fixed receive site. The technology offers unparalleled operational and total cost of ownership benefits to the users which we believe will allow for more live coverage resulting in greater viewer market share.”

The traditional way to set up such a broadcast requires several engineers to operate antennas and dishes and carries the risk of losing the video signal because of human error. In contrast, the VISLINK Cellular Diversity solution is easy to use. The receiver covers an area within a certain radius of the antenna. Within this area a camera operator can move around freely with the camera and the signal will be received at the centre.

The concept uses a feature of COFDM wireless technology that enables digital signals to bounce off the surfaces of tall buildings in the City Centre, and reach the receiver even if there is no direct line of sight.

VISLINK has installed over 40 such networks around the world and Dubai is the first city in the Middle East and North African region to benefit from this transformational newsgathering technology.

DMI is a pioneering media organization focused on innovation, quality and working in line with the strategic objectives of the Government of Dubai. Under its umbrella, DMI comprises a number of print, radio and TV channels including: Dubai TV, Al Bayan newspaper, Sama Dubai, Dubai One, Dubai Sports, Dubai Racing, Noor Dubai Radio & TV, Emarat Al Youm, Emirates Business 24|7, and Masar Printing Press.

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND: Starhome, the leading provider and acknowledged driving force of roaming services for mobile network operators, has today welcomed the decision made by the GSM Association's BARG (Billing and Accounting Roaming Group) to prohibit the use of Anti-SoR tools.

Anti-SoR (steering of roaming) is defined as “any technical network-based methods that can effectively frustrate, counteract or undo the effect of SoR when applied without the consent or participation of either the Roaming Subscriber or the HPMN Operator” (BARG BA.30).

In layman’s terms, Anti-SoR solutions are able to block update location messages from reaching the steering platform and are also capable of sending misleading signalling to deceive the steering application. Anti-SoR practices not only result in a substantial loss of revenue for operators, they also disrupt subscriber services by not supplying the optimum services given by the home network operator.

To identify potential Anti-SoR activities, the home network operator must instigate a lengthy three-phase manual process that includes a daily examination of roaming revenue distribution, signal tracing and testing.

The Starhome Anti-SoR Detector continuously monitors traffic statistics and allows the operator to detect potential revenue leakage by identifying Anti-SoR activities such as the blocking of update-location messages from reaching their steering of roaming platform, locking roamers into a network, and simulation of manual selection.

Starhome’s Anti-SoR Detector has built-in logic to identify exceptional drops or peaks in traffic statistics as well as unexpected signaling. Upon detection, the Anti-SoR Detector has the ability to apply resistance signaling to defeat Anti-SoR attempts as well as trigger the appropriate alarm to the operator. Starhome’s Anti-SoR Detector solution interoperates with Starhome's NG-IPN (Next Generation Intelligent Preferred Network) solution).

Shlomo Wolfman, co-founder and COO of Starhome commented: “The roaming market is an extremely competitive market, and, unfortunately, illegitimate tools, such as Anti-SoR, are still being used to steer traffic away from preferred networks, which, of course, results in a substantial loss of revenue for the operator. Starhome’s Anti-SoR Detector detects potential use of Anti-SoR activities to protect the operator’s business.”

On user request, the Anti-SoR Detector displays the top 10 networks with the highest gaps. Operators can then focus on these networks and generate detection reports to discover whether Anti-SoR techniques have been employed.

Wolfman continued: “Starhome keeps abreast of all the new SoR and Anti-SoR developments in the market. This information is used to enhance the Anti-SoR detection capabilities and will be made available and incorporated into the Anti-SoR Detector solution.”

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

PALO ALTO, USA: GigOptix Inc., a leading provider of electronic and electro- optic components for the optically connected digital world, announced that the Company has sampled its LX8400, a 40G DPSK Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM), to a Tier-1 telecom systems manufacturer in Asia.

This marks the next step in GigOptix’ progressive plans to commercialize its 40Gb/s and 100Gb/s modulators with different modulation formats during 2010.

This engagement signifies the first commercial sampling of thin film polymer on silicon modulators for a telecom application. More specifically, this represents the first of the GigOptix’ modulator products to be sampled to a major telecom customer.

The announcement is the culmination of nearly 8 years of development of the electro-optic thin film on silicon technology to create electro-optical polymer modulators that will set new performance thresholds for our industry and support 25 years of reliable operation at 850C. GigOptix expects to leverage this engagement along with its recently announced partnership with Sanmina-SCI to bring electro-optical polymer modulators to the telecom market in 2010.

“We are very excited to be engaged with a major Tier-1 telecom systems manufacturer,” states Raluca Dinu, Vice President & GM GigOptix Bothell.

“Our modulators are nearly half the size of competing Lithium Niobate products, have equivalent or better optical and RF performance, and satisfy the required reliability standards of the industry. Since the modulator size generally determines the transponder size, our modulators can now enable much smaller 40G and 100G transponder form factors. This is a significant breakthrough within the telecom industry as telecom system manufacturers try to squeeze more ports onto their equipment chassis.”

In their most recent forecast for Wide Area Network (WAN) optical components, Ovum projected that the total available market for external optical modulators will be $140 million in 2010 and more than double to $300 million in 2015.

Of this amount more than 80 percent or $250 million is forecasted to be at 40Gb/s and above. Additionally, modulators will be required beyond the telecom market in defense, aerospace and supercomputing applications whose market size could potentially be equally as significant. The GigOptix thin-film polymer on silicon modulators have superior qualities at low temperature and under radiation which make them highly attractive.

KIRKLAND, USA: From its annual All Hands Meeting in Seattle, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) unveiled more information about its forthcoming Bluetooth Core Specification Version 4.0, with the hallmark feature of low energy technology.

Bluetooth v4.0, expected to be brought to market by the end of Q2, will feature a powerful low energy mode designed to enable expansion of the technology in m-health, sports and fitness, security and home entertainment scenarios where button-cell battery devices proliferate.

Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, said: “Bluetooth v4.0 throws open the doors to a host of new markets for Bluetooth manufacturers and products such as watches, remote controls, and a variety of medical and in-home sensors. Many of these products run on button-cell batteries that must last for years versus hours and will also benefit from the longer range enabled by this new version of the Bluetooth specification.”

Bluetooth v4.0 is like three specifications in one – Classic Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth low energy technology, and Bluetooth high speed technology – all which can be combined or used separately in different devices according to their functionality. For example, sensors like those in pedometers and glucose monitors will run only low energy technology, thus saving power, cost and space within the device.

Watches will take advantage of both low energy technology while collecting data from fitness sensors on the body as well as Classic Bluetooth technology when sending that information to a PC, or separately displaying caller ID information when wirelessly connected to a mobile phone. Mobile phones and PCs, which support the widest range of uses, will utilize the full package with Classic, low energy and high speed technology running side by side.

As with previous versions of the specification, the range of the Bluetooth v4.0 radio may be optimized according to application. The majority of Bluetooth devices on the market today include the basic 30 foot, or 10 meter, range of the Classic Bluetooth radio, but there is no limit imposed by the Specification. With Bluetooth v4.0, manufacturers may choose to optimize range to 200 feet and beyond, particularly for in-home sensor applications where longer range is a necessity.

Bluetooth v4.0 was recently named one of the “10 Mobile Technologies to Watch in 2010 and 2011” by Gartner, Inc. Technologies chosen for the list were selected on their potential to evolve and impact short-term mobile strategies and policies. Specifically, Bluetooth v4.0 is cited to have significant impact on the fitness, healthcare and environmental control industries.

AvailabilityThe specification for Bluetooth v4.0 with the hallmark feature of low energy technology was first introduced in December 2009. Samples of sensors utilizing this specification are available from some silicon manufacturers today. Integration of Bluetooth low energy wireless technology within the Bluetooth specification will be completed before June 30, 2010.

Upon completion, mobile phone and PC manufacturers may enhance their Bluetooth product offerings with support for Bluetooth low energy wireless technology. End-user devices with Bluetooth v4.0 are expected to reach the market in late 2010 or early 2011.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

ASIA PACIFIC: HP has introduced a comprehensive edge-to-core networking portfolio that delivers a superior alternative to the marketplace in terms of technology, energy efficiency and total cost of ownership.

The new HP Networking portfolio combines the best of HP ProCurve and 3Com to provide an advanced network fabric that is up to twice as fast with half the energy use, and at a 65 percent lower total cost of ownership.

HP also announced that its newest internal data center will run completely on HP networking products, further demonstrating the scalability and mission-critical properties of the newly combined networking portfolio.

HP Networking will be led by Marius Haas, senior vice president and general manager, and is part of the Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking business unit led by David Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager.

The portfolio is a cornerstone of the HP Converged Infrastructure strategy, which eliminates silos of servers, storage and networking to create virtual pools of resources designed to optimally run business services.

“Enterprises are clearly asking for more choice when looking at networking solutions,” said Mark Fabbi, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner Inc. “The combination of increasing expectations for a more agile infrastructure to meet rapidly changing business demands and the more challenging economic climate requires fresh innovation, strong alternatives and a more business-centric approach to network design.”

The HP Networking portfolio allows clients to eliminate redundant equipment by integrating wired and wireless environments with security from the edge to core. To further drive complexity out of client operations, HP delivers “single pane of glass” management to configure, deploy and monitor the network. This enables common policy management, reduces human error and creates a consistent user experience across access mediums.

With the addition of the TippingPoint portfolio, HP has expanded the HP Secure Advantage product family to deliver proactive threat protection. The solution can be quickly implemented and is backed by the world-class network security research teams at TippingPoint DVLabs. This research organization is based in Austin, Texas, and is focused on vulnerability analysis and discovery.

“Clients need a reduction in complexity, more efficiency and greater flexibility in their networking solutions,” said Haas. “HP’s integrated networking portfolio challenges the status quo with more innovative technology that enables convergence across servers, storage and networking, at better economics to help clients deliver the outcomes that matter most to them.”

Open standards, interoperability and no vendor lock-inHP Networking delivers advanced networking functionality based on the principles of industry standards and multivendor interoperability. HP solutions can be incorporated into existing networks without disruption, bringing new levels of flexibility, security and simplified management to legacy environments.

HP Networking solutions leverage expertise developed over the last 25 years as well as offerings developed through industry collaboration and joint technology integration efforts. This enables clients to take advantage of market-driven innovation and adopt advanced technologies at a significantly lower total cost of ownership.

As part of the new arrangement, QUAKE will integrate Iridium's short-burst data (SBD) service into its new line of next-generation intelligent industrial satellite transceivers. Quake transceivers are used around the world for two-way, satellite data communications services required for global remote tracking and control monitoring.

"We are committed to this further integration of the Iridium SBD service into our next-generation Q4000 and Q-Pro tracking devices," said Sergio Ramos, CTO of Quake Global. "Iridium offers uniform worldwide coverage, low-latency and two-way data links with high network reliability – perfect for our customers requiring near real-time data for mission-critical applications."

"This enhanced relationship with Quake, one of the premier manufacturers of satellite and wireless tracking products, enhances our ability to further serve the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) sector, our fastest growing market," said Greg Ewert, executive vice president of global distribution channels, Iridium. "We are proud to deliver global communications to meet the needs of QUAKE customers."

Though only the size of a deck of cards, the Q4000 modem combines dual-mode operability over the Iridium satellite network and GSM terrestrial networks in an industrial-grade, all-in-one remote asset tracking solution.

"The Q4000 modem is designed to meet stringent automotive power conditioning protocols and power management requirements for low-voltage applications. It also incorporates an application programming interface (API) that allows developers to utilize its functions to create customized onboard applications," Ramos said.

"Utilizing QUAKE's patented technology, system integrators can develop applications using a single communications protocol across multiple networks along with GPS. This functionality not only significantly reduces development time and costs, but also provides end users with unparalleled flexibility to choose the most economically appropriate network to meet their varied network needs and usage patterns."